"Pope Live" follows the events of the final day of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy as seen by journalists from The Associated Press around the world. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest.

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HE'S OFF!

Benedict XVI's helicopter is circling over St. Peter's Square before heading to Castel Gandolfo, where he will make his final appearance as pope. Spectators around the helipad are hanging out signs that read, "Thank you."

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SAYING THE ROSARY

The crowd at Castel Gandolfo is reciting the rosary, led by a woman using a loudspeaker in final hour before the pope arrives.

As soon as sun started going down, the air in the town quickly changed from springlike to chilly. Some of the faithful have ducked inside a cafe to warm themselves as they pray.

Children are running and shrieking on the edges of the square, happy to play as their parents keep on praying.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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POPE'S MOTORCADE

The Pope has greeted his staff for the last time, and is heading in a motorcade for the helicopter that will take him to Castel Gandolfo.

Members of the Vatican bureaucracy, or Curia, have poured into the courtyard to witness the historic moment of Benedict's final departure from the Vatican as pope.

He will travel by car to the Vatican's helipad at the top of the hill in the Vatican gardens, and then will fly by helicopter to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo.

- Nicole Winfield - Twitter http://twitter.com/nwinfield

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LAST-MINUTE ITALY

Italians often show up for events at the last minute, and the gathering to say farewell to Pope Benedict XVI in the main square of Castel Gandolfo was no exception.

As the clock struck 4:15 p.m., the crowd of a few hundred seemed to swell almost at once to a few thousand well-wishers packing the tiny, rectangular square.

Yellow-and-white paper pennants in Vatican colors were selling briskly at (EURO)1 euro ($1.50) apiece as the town awaited the pope's arrival in about an hour.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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HOPE FOR A BRAZILIAN POPE

Sitting on a borrowed plastic chair as he awaited Benedict XVI's final public appearance as pope, Tiago Padilha speculated on what it would be like to have someone from his home country of Brazil lead the Church.

"If he comes from Brazil, it would be a big joy for a great people with great faith," he said, his 18-month-old son perched on his knee happily blowing soap bubbles. "That would develop even more the faith among the Catholic youth. That would be fantastic."

Brazilian Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer is believed to be to be a leading contender to succeed Benedict. Many believe that a pontiff from Latin America would help stem the losses in a region where 40 percent of the world's Catholics live.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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QUICKQUOTE: FAN

Anna Maria Togni and her friend walked two kilometers (one mile) from the outskirts of Castel Gandolfo to witness history today as Pope Benedict XVI retires. Licking a gelato of hazelnut and nougat, Togni said she "felt lucky."

"We have the pope right here at home," she said.

"We feel a tenderness toward him. I think they made him leave," she said of Benedict.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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NOT ALL FEATHERED HELMETS

Being a Swiss Guard is not all feathered helmets and puffy striped uniforms.

To even apply, you must be Catholic, male, Swiss and between 19 and 30 years of age. You need to sign up for a minimum two-year hitch and must complete your mandatory military service back at home.

Swiss Guards take an oath to protect the present pope and whoever follows him as the latest successor to the first pontiff, Peter.

Tonight, when Pope Benedict XVI retires at 8 p.m., the Swiss Guards will go inside the papal palace at Castel Gandolfo and go off duty. They won't be staying, however - after they get out of their dress uniforms they will be driven back to Rome.

Benedict will then be guarded by Vatican security personnel.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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CARDINAL DIES

The French Bishops' Conference has announced that Cardinal Jean Honoré, who was appointed by Benedict's predecessor John Paul II, died Thursday, hours before the pope was due to leave office. He was 92.

Honoré, who was Archbishop of Tours from 1972 to 1981, was already over 80 when he was made a cardinal in 2001, so he was unable to vote at the previous conclave in 2005 and would not have voted at the upcoming one either.

He was an expert in the work of the British 19th-century cleric Cardinal John Henry Newman, who was beatified by Benedict in 2010.

- Noami Koppel - Twitter http://twitter.com/naomikoppel

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BALCONY DOORS OPEN

Just minutes ago, the balcony doors swung open at the papal palace overlooking the main square in Castel Gandolfo, where Pope Benedict XVI will say the last public words of his papacy.

Two aides came out and draped a crimson banner emblazoned with the papal seal off the balcony's railing.

The first signs of movement inside the palace set off a round of cheering from the few hundred people jamming the tiny square.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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WRITTEN IN STONE

Benedict is on permanent record as a fan of Castel Gandolfo.

A plaque on the main square in his name praises his view of the lake and "the good people" of the town of 8,500. Three hours before his arrival by helicopter, some 100 of them were awaiting him in the little cobblestone square outside the brown wooden doors of the residence where he will stay once his papacy ends.

A greeting was spelled out in silver letter-shaped balloons: "Thanks Benedict, all of us are with you." It was strung up between the second and third floors of an apartment building whose ground floor is home to the town's tiny post office and across the square from a coffee bar - where local were sipping espresso to get a caffeine jolt for the wait.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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KNIGHTS OF MALTA

Luciano Mariani is bidding farewell to his sixth pope with a big parade.

Mariani, a member of the famed Knights of Malta who has served a succession of popes at Castel Gandolfo, met his first pope, Pius XII, as a boy. He and other members of the order help tend the grounds at the estate, where Benedict XVI will arrive later today to spend the last hours of his papacy.

Mariani and his fellow Knights of Malta will dress in ceremonial garb to greet him with a parade.

Mariani, 69, says Benedict "is a great pope. He did a lot of beautiful and big things for the church." He said his order was shocked by the pope's resignation but he says "we have to accept it as Christians and we have to have faith in it."

The Knights of Malta, which has 13,500 members worldwide, celebrated its 900th anniversary last month.

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- Amer Cohadzic, AP video producer.

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HOME AWAY FROM HOME

Benedict is being welcomed in the town of Castel Gandolfo, but John Paul II truly made it his second home while he was pope, spending more than five years total there during his long papacy.

He had a swimming pool installed and liked to put his desk outside to work. He once caught the whiff of a barbeque and showed up as the surprise guest of a group of Swiss Guards.

- Frances D'Emilio - Twitter http://twitter.com/fdemilio

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AMERICAN CATHOLICS

Catholics in the United States are conflicted over what they want from the next pope.

In a survey days after Pope Benedict XVI announced his abdication, Catholics split over whether they hope his successor will generally preserve tradition or make changes in Catholic teaching.

A majority of Catholics said the next pontiff should allow priests to marry, but people who attend Mass more frequently are less certain about the idea.

Most U.S. Catholics also said it would be good for the church if the new pope came from a developing country. Catholicism is growing dramatically in Africa, as well as in Asia and Latin America, while the faith is shrinking in the West.

The survey was conducted by the Pew Research Center in Washington.

- Rachel Zoll, AP Religion Writer, https://twitter.com/rzollAP

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FROM MANILA

This from the Philippines, an Asian nation where more than 75 million people in the population of 94 million are Roman Catholic:

Romeo Mercardo, a 45-year-old tricycle driver in front of Manila's Santa Ana Church, says he's saddened by Pope Benedict's resignation. "`'I think he ran the church well. From what I see even here in our parish . you can see a lot of people going to Mass. People would go to church as early as Saturday, and on Sundays the church is packed," Mercardo says.

The historic church dating back to the Spanish colonial era held no special Masses today for Benedict, but many Filipinos followed the news from the Vatican on the radio and TV.

-Eden Mendez, 23, a saleswoman in a clothing store: "It's sad that he has to go. I hope whoever will replace him will also work like him. He did well for the church."

-Fortunato Vendivel, a professor at Philippine Normal University: "My wish for him is to get well because he looks really ill, and I think he badly needs to rest."

- Teresa Cerojano - Twitter http://twitter.com/mtmanila

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WAITING FOR THE POPE

People are starting to show up in the square in Castel Gandolfo to await the Pope's arrival, but they are still outnumbered by members of the media.

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 to end the Great Western Schism, a nearly 40-year split over leadership of Christendom. The disagreement was a major political struggle since the Church played a central role in politics, art and daily life in much of Europe, which was slowly transitioning into the Renaissance.

During that era:

- Heretics were burned at the stake, including Bohemian-born Jan Hus, a priest considered an inspiration for the Protestant Reformation, in 1415. Joan of Arc, who fought for France in the Hundred Years War against England, died at the stake in 1431.

- The Medicis were building the banking empire that would turn them into a political dynasty, make them influential art benefactors and eventually produce four popes, the first in 1513.

- Early Renaissance artists like Donatello were playing with perspective in sculptures of saints that adorned his country's ornate churches.

- Matt Surman - Twitter http://twitter.com/apsurman

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LAST PAPAL TWEET:

Update for the Twitter world:

The Vatican says retiring Pope Benedict XVI will send his last tweet as pope around 5 p.m. Rome time (1600 GMT, 11 a.m. EST). That's also about the time he's set to leave the Vatican by helicopter to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo.

Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says the pope's Twitter handle (at)Pontifex will then be "in abeyance" until the next pontiff is selected. He says it'll be up to the next leader of the Catholic Church as to whether or not he will use it.

- Joji Sakurai - Twitter - http://twitter.com/jojisakurai

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QUICKQUOTE: CARDINAL PELL

Australia's Cardinal George Pell, one of those who will be voting for the next pope, is speaking in Rome about Pope Benedict XVI's retirement:

"He was well aware that this was a break with tradition, slightly destabilizing. But he felt that because of his weakness and sickness, which was only too evident today, that he just didn't have the strength to lead in church in these demanding times."